The British satellite company Inmarsat and the Germans' Deutsche Telekom are working hand in hand to offer high-speed internet access to airline travelers in Europe that is faster than the Gogo. The joined force has made a hybrid solution that combines long-term evolution-based ground system with an S-band satellite system.
Gogo, the chief in-flight internet provider in the United States, debuted its own hybrid package using the Ku-band a few years back. On the other hand, Inmarsat's aviation head Leo Mondale termed the speeds proposed by its partnership with Deutsche Telekom as 4G style in tens of mbps, and will be by far "faster" than Gogo currently provides.
Deutsche Telekom will arrange for the LTE transmitters that will convey data to the operating height of passenger airplanes, and are malleable enough to deal with the speed of airplanes voyaging Europe's 28 member states. Once the plane reaches the 10,000 feet mark, the ground system will associate with the satellite connectivity. According to Inmarsat, the switching concerning satellite and ground will be routinely succeeded by the cabin systems.
Last month, Gogo received concluding authorizations to commence in-flight testing of its very own second generation satellite connectivity system and anticipated to start service this year. The firm stated it contracted seven commercial airline companies and expected to deliver peak speeds of more than 70 megabits per second to airplanes. It plans to start putting in the system to 500 airliners next year.
Lufthansa has announced that it will be the first European airline to propose broadband on deck its short and medium-haul trips beginning in the summer of 2016. On the other hand, those flights will be using Inmarsat's Ka-band satellite system. Lufthansa also stated that it will participate in the S-band / LTE hybrid trial sequence in 2017, with the hopes that it will in the end be a more flexible solution and cost effective at the same time.
